Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Memory Adventure to Preserve

I'm sitting in my chilly office chair while my three napping children are giving me my well-earned break of the day. There's a big white spaced template in front of me, and it's been a while.

My fingers are typing, and words are flowing through my fingers, but really instead of trying to articulate my thoughts best, I want to just upload my memory to this post. I can enlarge and highlight the best parts, hide the inappropriate parts, and delete the regrettable parts.

Memories are precious, and preserving them is priority. From a girl who's memory fails over and over again, it's just something I like to do. Preserve. I like a trigger. A smell. A picture (and if you know me, you know I like a picture), a story.

Years ago, before kids, before marriage, before responsibility, we made a few memories. Many we've let go of, willing to let them perish with time elapsed. Some we love to revisit. Like that one night.

That night we were a couple of 18 year olds, and we skipped out on a family event to look for adventure. It was a cool night, cool enough for a jacket that smelled like too much cologne. Sugar cane had been burning, and the smell lingered in the air as we drove with the windows down and the music up. Philip was a carpenter at the time and had been working on a job framing this gigantic, two story mansion type home. At least that's what my young brain labeled it. People were in bed, and it was late as we went onto the dark property with a waterfront backyard view that we didn't have permission to be on. Only led by a small flashlight's beam Philip showed me things like woodwork and rooms that I nodded and pretended to care about. We climbed these stairs that had no rails so that we could tour the second floor, and although my usual frame of mind would have been panic, nervousness, and uneasiness, we were adventuring. So I was being adventurous. Which clearly meant climbing unsturdy stairs in the dark while trespassing on someone else's property. When we got to the top we saw every single star in the sky, only clouded by our warm breath on the cool late night. It was beautiful. Until I tripped over a power cord and then the neighbor's dogs started relentlessly barking until we finally had to escape because I was absolutely convinced we were going to go to jail. It was a November 3rd, and I will remember it for the rest of my days. Mostly because that night I wrote about it in my journal, and read it over and over again for years while smiling and remembering the details so sharply it was as if reading was reliving.

It's been a while since we made a memory to remember. In the daily hustle of Hey I'm a servant to life we recently decided to get away and make a memory or two to remember. Just me and my guy. Us style. So, we picked a random place in Texas, and drove on over with zero plans, zero agenda, and adventure for a couple of kids ready to feel 18 again.

We did tourist things like packed my purse with brochures and took pictures with Texas things.

and then we did super cool[er] things like eating out as a party of 2 instead of 5, and if you have or have had young children, and have also taken them into restaurants enduring scowling booth neighbors' looks, waitors' "Wow' ya'll have your hands full" type commentary, and one or more children playing the hey lets throw all of our food on the floor game, then you rejoice with me.

We did stop on a job for Philip to go in and work for a while, but I do not have a picture of it, meaning it never happened. (See that's where the delete the regrettable comes in). Also we caught 3 hours of Houston 5:00 Friday traffic, which I also chose not to document because I NEVER WANT TO REMEMBER THAT AGAIN.

and then we got to our hotel.

which is awesome. Well.... which I thought was awesome. You see, this is maybe the 3rd time I've ever stayed in a hotel in my life. Yes, so I thought hotels were super cool. There was a king sized bed, and I didn't have to clean up at all. Pillows are fluffy, and you get this super cool card scanner to unlock your door, and you feel super important, because hotels are for fancy adventure stays.

and then I had coffee in bed, which I did spill. THEN I woke up Saturday morning with a terrible crick in my neck from overfluffed pillows, and just when I thought I was going to have one morning of the rest of my life to sleep in, small children.... [YES YOU READ SMALL CHILDREN] must have been playing hot lava or hey this floor might turn into a trampoline if we jump long and hard enough at around 7am. So hotels aren't that cool, I have thus concluded.

But cool. Is The Cheesecake Factory. Romantic. Beautiful. Best salmon ever. Best cheesecake ever. We ordered a piece to share for dessert, and then a piece to take home for breakfast. Because we are adventurous grownups who can eat cheesecake in bed for breakfast. Only these adventurous grown ups couldn't thinking clearly staying up til midnight and left the cheesecake in the car overnight. Philip determined 72 degrees outside was good enough chill to keep the cheesecake good though, so he did retrieve it from the floor of the car, and we did eat it for breakfast. Due to the prior coffee spilling incident we did not have it in bed though, but it was on a couch. and it was crazy.

My favorite part of this whole trip was that we never knew where we were stopping next. It was a whatever kind of weekend in the best way... which really goes against everything I am. But I liked it.

My second favorite part of this whole trip was that my husband is so hot.

aaaaand my third favorite part of this whole trip was that I mad my first skinny peppermint mocha of the season. Halleluiah

There was a gorgeous park or two that was wandered around.

There was a burger that was mighty fine.

and there was the first time ever I went into a Pottery Barn, and the temptation to cuddle under couch pillows and pretend it was my home.

THEN WE WENT TO THE MALL AND BOUGHT NOTHING FOR CHILDREN AND EVERYTHING FOR OURSELVES. everything as in a couple of small somethings.

Then my friends, we decided to ice skate for the very first time.

and while it was short lived, it was fun. After 2 laps holding the rails, I was able to finally break free until a small Asian child nearly took me out and then I quit. I will be back, and I will be better.

Let it be noted, Texas has bullets. and they are totally serious about it.

We visited a ranch and some old beautiful homes. I accidentally spilled water all over some vintage kitchen I wasn't supposed to be touching, but I did get a nice picture of this gnarly longhorn.

We Saltgrassed.

and it was bomb. Bomb as in good. Really fantastic good. Again, party of 2, ya'll.

We attended our first ever hockey game, and although we may have been the only ones there that were not friends or family of the actual hockey players, we yelled and cheered, and enjoyed every second. Ya'll. Hockey is hardcore. and we kind of love it.

We hiked and strolled around all of these beautiful nature spots where we were super annoying and held hands and kissed and Philip repeatedly fussed me for scaring animals away with my phone camera. It felt like an adventure, one I want to relive again and again. God gave me a best friend, and an adventure away to enjoy him. We were grateful.The car ride was long, but easy, and we laughed more than we have in a long time.

The weekend was short. Sunday came and we had children to travel home and poor tired babysitters to relieve. It kind of ached to come home. A piece of my heart was left in that weekend. on a November 3rd.

1 comment:

Aw... loved this! So glad you had a chance to get away!! (I have been out with my husband once since Eloise was born. This past birthday of mine (ours!)... breakfast and a trip to Walmart... *sigh*) And I must say... Adeline looks exactly like every single picture of YOU! ...And has Philip been lifting or what? I don't remember those guns! Haha! Seriously. Loved this!

About Me

I'm just a Jesus lovin' lady with a lot to share, things to say, and always enough to give. I married my high school sweet heart and best friend and he rocks my world, swells my heart, and gave me a couple of babies who will forever hug my soul super tight. LoveLove